Jacobs Vehicle Systems captured Engine Technology of the Year honors at the recent Diesel Progress Summit Awards ceremony hosted by Diesel Progress magazine and the KHL publishing group. Jacobs was recognized for its High Power Density^® (HPD^®) technology, which provides industry leading engine brake power.

Steve Ernest, vice president of engineering & business development for Jacobs, received the award and said, “This prestigious award validates the already proven success of this advanced engine brake technology.  HPD provides fleets with a cost-effective, high performing engine brake and its lightweight design and performance without fade makes it a great alternative to a driveline retarder.”

The need for enhanced supplemental retarding continues to increase as the industry strives for improved fuel economy.  Solutions such as engine downspeeding, improved aerodynamics, reduced rolling resistance, and the use of alternative fuels, all negatively impact the natural retarding of the vehicle and place more burden on the retarding systems.  Having a high-performance engine brake such as HPD decreases the reliance on the foundation brakes to fulfill this retarding gap, decreasing an operator’s Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).  HPD allows these vehicles to maintain or improve total retarding TCO while still utilizing fuel economy technologies.

The panel of judges noted they were impressed with HPD’s capabilities and the use of cylinder deactivation (CDA) in its function.  HPD technology is modular and integrated into the engine valvetrain.  Jacobs’ Cylinder Deactivation technology is coupled with a traditional dedicated cam braking system to enable two compression release events per cam rotation instead of one.  This modular HPD valvetrain can also be modified to include other Jacobs technologies such as full CDA, DSF, ADT, LIVC, and EEVO, depending on the technology needed to meet emissions regulations.

To learn more about the Diesel Progress Summit Awards and other winners, visit dieselprogress.com.

Photo courtesy of Diesel Progress